Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends – A project of The Community Trust

LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW Dense, high-income communities support healthy housing, retail

A short bike ride from the Lakefront Trail, close to downtown, and filled with entertainment and shopping choices, Lincoln Park and Lakeview are among Chicago’s most in-demand neighborhoods. A destination for recent Big 10 college graduates, hangout for fans of the Chicago Cubs, and location of theater, music, and comedy venues, these adjacent lakefront neighborhoods are experiencing heavy, ongoing reinvestment in residential, commercial, and public structures.

Lincoln Park and Lakeview were once solidly working-class neighborhoods whose residents worked in factories and workshops along the river and rail spurs – or at downtown jobs reachable by CTA trains and buses. The communities were crowded and worn out after World War II, peaking in population with 227,000 residents in Source: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using 1950. Ever since, as household sizes and population fell, the neighborhoods trended upward in 2010 Decennial Census. homeownership, education levels, and income, and became less diverse in the process.

The district has a remarkable mix of housing types, with 110-year-old rowhouses and cottages alongside new balconied condominiums, just down the street from corner apartment blocks and high- rises. Land uses are just as varied. The lakefront park is half-a-mile deep in many places, strung with paths and lagoons, Belmont Harbor, , and the free Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory. Retail corridors have widely varied character, including the Belmont theater district, -oriented Halsted Street in Boystown, and bars and restaurants along Clark Street in Wrigleyville. To the west along the river and Ravenswood Avenue are reminders of the area’s industrial past, from metal-recycling companies to big-box stores on former factory land.

The district has one of Chicago’s consistently strongest LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW OVER TIME housing markets, though today it faces fresh competition from 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 other neighborhoods to the north, west, and south. The Population 182,747 154,665 152,123 159,137 158,484 highest housing values have traditionally been in Lincoln Park, where new mansions go for $3 million or more, and Share of population in poverty 13.2% 13.1% 10.4% 8.7% 11.4% elaborate rehabs are interspersed with new single-family, Percent owner-occupied/renter occupied townhouse, and condominium developments. After decades 12/88 24/76 28/72 34/66 39/61 of growth, the scarcity of available land means that teardowns Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies of less-valuable property are common. On the 2700 block of at DePaul University using U.S. Census data from US2010 Project at Brown University. North Lakewood, for instance, worker cottages once lined the street and railroad tank cars served a candy factory at Diversey. Now the tracks are abandoned, the factory is gone, and the block is almost full of new single- family homes with as many as six bedrooms and bathrooms, at prices to match.

Slightly less expensive than Lincoln Park, the Lakeview community has been coming on strong for years, offering thousands of units in lakefront high-rises and many more on less-dense interior streets. Like Lincoln Park and other hot neighborhoods to the west, including North Center, developable parcels are mostly claimed by local developers, and “underutilized” buildings, including Single Room Occupancy apartment buildings, are being converted to higher-end uses or torn down.

Investment drivers In 2015, four major parcels are in transition to new uses that are likely to create ripple effects:  River Works – When steelmaker A. Finkl & Sons relocated to the South Side two years ago, this parcel and the adjacent Guttman Tannery and A. Lakin rubber sites became available for future uses. Extending along the river on both sides of Cortland Street, the 40 acres are in two Planned Manufacturing Districts where retail and residential uses are prohibited. The economic

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 2 development group North Branch Works is conducting a $200,000 study to determine the potential for new job-creating uses, including advanced manufacturing.

 The 32-acre Lathrop Homes public housing complex is in the beginning stages of a controversial $1.6 billion redevelopment to create a mixed-income community. The latest master plan for the area calls for preservation of 14 historic structures north of Diversey and construction of modern mid-rise buildings south of Diversey, for a total of 1,208 units. The plan calls for improved riverfront access and new park space. Community debate has focused on historic preservation and the reduced number of affordable housing units (212 affordable rentals and 400 public housing units, versus 925 original units) in this increasingly expensive part of the city.  Children’s Memorial site – Six acres that once served thousands of workers and visitors a day have been idle since 2012 when the renamed Lurie hospital moved to Streeterville. A $300 million mixed-use redevelopment plan by McCaffery Interests was approved by the City Council in 2014 but a lawsuit by residents in the surrounding historic district delayed movement on the land sale (the lawsuit was dismissed in January 2015). Objections centered around the development’s proposed density, with 540 apartments, 60 condominiums, and 160 senior units, plus retail space and a health club. In the meantime, nearby sandwich shops and other businesses that once served the hospital have closed.  Wrigley Field and adjacent blocks are in line for years of construction as the Chicago Cubs move forward on a $500 million renovation of the ballpark and construction of an adjacent public plaza and 175-room Sheraton hotel on the west side of Clark Street. A separate development on the south side of Addison will add 148 apartments and 170,000 square feet of retail space fronting on both Addison and Clark. Many businesses in Wrigleyville cater to the large crowds that converge on the area for Cubs home games.

Also in the works is a $31.5 million expansion of Lincoln Park at Fullerton as the Army Corps of Engineers adds 5.8 acres of new park space to prevent shoreline erosion and relieve a pinch point in the Lakefront Trail, which serves 13,800 bikers, hikers, and roller-bladers at Fullerton on an average

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 3 weekday. The improvements include conversion of the summer-only Theater on the Lake to a year- round performance and event space with a 400-seat theater.

Housing and retail The resurgence of Lincoln Park began in the 1970s during the hippie era, when Old Town’s eclectic mix of music clubs, shops, restaurants, and bars began attracting a citywide clientele. Housing was mostly inexpensive and deteriorated, but that began to change as century-old cottages and townhouses were rehabbed and upgraded. On the 1300 block of North Wells, the former Dr. Scholl’s foot-product complex, a warren of 30 buildings, was converted to loft housing in the 1980s and renamed Cobbler’s Square. This spurred development of brand-new housing on previously forbidding blocks to the west, bringing new retail stores to Wells Street and more customers to comedy club at North and Wells.

High-rise residential buildings were already the dominant use along the lakefront, but vitality spread into the mixed low-rise areas to the west, which were well served by express buses to the Loop via Lake Shore Drive. By the late 1980s, many of the older structures in Lincoln Park had been rehabbed and the first waves of gentrification were moving into Lakeview. Just as hippies marked the first phase of Old Town’s renewal, a growing gay population was transforming Halsted Street north of Belmont, where the concentration of gay bars, music venues, and other attractions became known as Boystown. East Lakeview is virtually shut down one weekend each year for the Gay Pride parade, and the area remains a major center of the city’s LGBT EMPLOYMENT – LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW population, despite outmigration of couples and families to Andersonville and the North Lakefront. Top six employment sectors (# jobs) 2005 2011 In 2004, the Center on Halsted opened at 3656 N. Accommodation and Food Services 9,664 11,014 Health Care and Social Assistance 9,350 9,693 Halsted as the Midwest’s largest community center Retail Trade 9,016 8,657 for the LGBT community, and in 2014, the nearby Other Services (except Public Admin) 3,346 3,516 Town Hall Apartments debuted as the city’s first Professional, Scientific, and Tech Services 1,709 2,056 Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 1,950 1,883 LGBT-friendly senior housing development, with Total # private-sector jobs in district 46,706 48,327 79 units in a former police station and adjoining new building. District Citywide Unemployment rate 2012 4.9% 12.9%

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 4

Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University With more than 23,000 residents per square mile – using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data (top sectors) and 2012 Five-Year American Community Survey (unemployment). second highest density among the planning districts after the North Lakefront – and relatively high incomes in many households, the Lincoln Park Lakeview district supports more than 2,700 small businesses spread along Clark, Broadway, Halsted, Lincoln, Southport, Belmont, and other streets. Character varies from street to street and continues to evolve as rents increase and populations shift. Boutiques and specialty shops created a cluster early on at Armitage and Halsted and continue to thrive there even as some shoppers have moved on to Bucktown, Pilsen, and other new hotspots. The area around Cubs park, known as Wrigleyville, is heavily served by sports-oriented restaurants and bars, some serving not just Cubs fans but Big 10 alums who gather to cheer their favorite college teams. Much of Lincoln Park benefits from DePaul University, which has invested heavily in its 36-acre campus around Fullerton and Sheffield.

Belmont Avenue maintains its dominance as a theater district, with about 20 venues including the Briar Street Theater, which has headlined the Blue Man Group continuously since 1997; the Athenaeum, which hosts a dozen resident companies as well as touring troupes; the Laugh Factory and Comedy Sportz; and the four-theater Stage 773, which features long-running shows and comedy festivals. The blocks of Belmont near the CTA Red and Brown Line station were once known for punk clothing, army surplus, and tattoo parlors, but are changing along with the neighborhood. At the triangular intersection of Clark and Belmont, the former Dunkin Donuts and its surface parking lot are being replaced by an eight-story, 90-unit apartment building with two floors of retail. Proximity to the Belmont CTA station qualifies the building for reduced parking; it will have just 39 residential spaces.

CTA Red and Brown Line Ridership (weekday boardings, year-end averages, 2009 and 2013) Red Line Brown Line Clark/ North/ Fullerton Belmont Addison Sheridan Sedgwick Armitage Diversey Wellington Southport Paulina Division Clybourn 2009 7,025 4,293 11,518 11,434 7,950 4,853 3,308 3,811 5,133 2,426* 2,927 1,569 2013 7,468 5,707 13,362 12,822 7,981 5,483 3,900 4,313 5,749 3,035 3,299 2,779 Source: Chicago Transit Authority Annual Ridership Reports. * Wellington ridership in row for 2009 is actually from 2010, because the station was closed for reconstruction in part of 2009.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 5

All of this activity is supported by the CTA’s heavily used Red, Brown, and Purple Line trains that serve the neighborhoods. The area includes several of the CTA’s highest-ridership stations and has shown substantial passenger growth in recent years.

Challenges and opportunities After many years of strong demand for its housing and retail space, both Lincoln Park and Lakeview face growing competition from other neighborhoods that offer similar or different lifestyle choices. Most big-box retailers are now within a few miles drive; Logan Square, River North, and Humboldt Park offer “edgier” street environments; and neighborhoods farther north have become bigger attractions for the city’s LGBT population. High-quality housing choices, whether for families or singles, are now more available in other neighborhoods than they were two decades ago, when Lincoln Park and Lakeview were among the few upscale choices in Chicago.

Source: Easy Analytic Software, Inc., updated January 2014, as displayed on Woodstock Institute Data Portal.

Recent plans and studies include strategies to help the area maintain its competitive edge. The 2011 Lakeview Area Master Plan concentrates on the interconnected retail districts along Ashland, Belmont, Southport, and Lincoln Avenue. It suggests better landscaping, “living” walls of greenery, gateways, and branding of subdistricts to bring more life to the sidewalks and more shoppers to local stores. To bring pedestrians from one district to another, the plan recommends turning the unused pathway beneath the Brown Line tracks, between the Paulina and Southport stations, into a “Low Line” walking trail with natural landscaping.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 6

The 2013 North Clark Street Strategic Plan identifies a lack of recent reinvestment along Clark Street between Diversey and Belmont. The diagonal street is heavily oriented for auto uses north of Wellington, with big-box stores, parking lots, and drive-through banks creating a hostile environment for pedestrians, especially at the six-way intersection of Halsted, Clark, and Barry. South of Wellington is a more traditional Chicago streetscape, with stores on the ground floor and apartments above, but sidewalks are too narrow for sidewalk cafes and landscaping is drab or missing. The plan recommends bump-outs and wider sidewalks, landscaping improvements for parking lots, an inviting connector alley between Clark and Broadway to bring foot traffic in both directions, and reconfiguration of the six-way intersections to provide more public spaces and safer street crossings. Specific building and façade improvements are also suggested to enliven the corridor and attract new retailers.

The 2010 Halsted Triangle Plan addresses a very different environment on the edge of the North Branch Canal, between Division and North Avenue. This former industrial area has transmuted into a mixed commercial, industrial, and entertainment zone, taking advantage of its location near the North and Clybourn commercial district. A master plan suggests delineation of districts within the triangle and related streetscape and pedestrian improvements, including better access to the riverfront. When the Whole Foods store relocated to Kingsbury Avenue in the triangle, from north of North Avenue, it extended the existing riverwalk and opened its back doors to a riverfront plaza, exactly the type of changes recommended by the plan.

Three pending transportation projects will create additional opportunities in the district:  Ashland Bus Rapid Transit – The first phase of this proposed service would bring new transit stations to North Avenue and Cortland Streets at Ashland, creating new nodes of activity; the second phase would continue the line north to Irving Park Road.  CTA Belmont Flyover – This bridge for northbound Brown Line trains, over the Red and Purple Line tracks, will provide more-frequent trains and relieve overcrowding on the CTA’s busiest corridor. Construction would require demolition of up to 16 parcels north of Belmont

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 7 for track realignment, creating transit-oriented-development opportunities after project completion.

 Redefine the Drive – The 2014 North Lake Shore Drive Phase I Study is the first step in complete redevelopment of the lakefront transportation system, including the drive itself, inner drive, Lakefront Path, and connections to east-west arteries. The project offers major opportunities to expand overall capacity, reduce traffic accidents and conflicts, and improve conditions for CTA bus riders, cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.

With continued heavy reinvestment in both the commercial and residential sectors of Lincoln Park and Lakeview, and with multiple plans in place to address weaknesses and barriers to growth, this planning district is positioned for growth. The primary challenge for the district is to find a balance among competing interests, and to maintain the social and physical environments that have made it such a strong attraction.

Examples of development opportunities (to come) Place Location Status Notes In-fill sites Various locations Small lots continue to be developed with single-family homes or three- and four-flat residential buildings.

River Works (Finkl, Around Cortland Avenue on 40 acre site in Planned North Branch Works, an economic Guttman, Lakin east side of . Manufacturing District is being development nonprofit and city delegate properties) studied for potential uses. agency, is managing the study process.

Children’s Memorial South of Fullerton, east of McCaffery Interests has Lawsuit by neighborhood opponents had Hospital site Lincoln Avenue. created detailed development stalled progress but was dismissed in January plan but had not yet purchased 2015. the site as of late 2014.

Former industrial areas Multiple underutilized sites, Many sites are in buffer zone Retail big-box stores have been added at generally along Kingsbury, near Planned Manufacturing multiple locations on the western edges of Elston Avenue, and Chicago District, allowing retail but not Lincoln Park. River. residential uses.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 8 Data note: Demographic and other data is compiled by Chicago Community Area, which may differ slightly from the boundaries of the CN2015 Planning Districts. Community Areas included in this profile are Lincoln Park and Lakeview.

Research support for Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends was provided by a team convened by The Chicago Community Trust. The summary of assets for this planning district was created by LISC Chicago and Teska Associates with materials from Metropolitan Planning Council, Place Consulting, Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, and many other sources. Author: Patrick Barry.

Learn more about Lincoln Park Lakeview and Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 at cct.org/CN2015/LincolnParkLakeview. Learn more about data and sources at cct.org/CN2015/DataSources.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 9 LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW DISTRICT ASSET MAP CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015 Wilson Yards

See North Lakefront Planning District

Sheridan Greeley ES CLARK Straw Dog Anshe Emet Day School Blaine ES Inter American Music Box Theatre Magnet ES Center on Halsted Wrigley Field 19th Lakeview Academy

Addison LGBT Senior Housing Wrigleyville BROADWAY

Hamilton ES Boystown Paulina Southport City Day School See North Central City College Lakeview Learning Belmont Theater District Hawthorne ES Planning District Whole Foods The Vic The Pointe Nettelhorst ES Annoyance Theater Stage 773 and Laugh Factory Future Retail at Clark St. Merlo Lincoln Belmont St. Luke Theater Wit Briar Street Theater Academy Belmont Mt. Carmel Northwestern Clinic St. Peter's Episcopal Church Burley ES Illinois Advocate Masonic Mariano's LAKEVIEW Lakeview St. Alphonsus Academy Timeline Theater Historic District Athenaeum Theatre Wellington ArtDe Triumph Gallery Schneider ES Agassiz ES Lakeview WIC Clinic Diversey Golf Course Signal of Peace Monumnet Lathrop Homes DIVERSEY Coyote Logistics, Green Exchange Diversey

Riverfront Plaza Alcott ES

Costco Prescott ES E LOGAN SQUARE N Lincoln Park

I Apollo Theater C

Chicago A Children's Unit R P. Notebaert Nature Museum Whirlyball Lincoln Hall FULLERTON Lincoln Park Fullerton Plaza Fullerton Lincoln ES Lincoln Park Conservatory 94 Former Children's St. Josaphat School DePaul University Francis Parker Memorial Mayer ES St. Vincent de Paul Parish Lincoln Park Zoo Sheffield Mid North Historic District Historic District Mariano’s St. James Lutheran School

E Lincoln Park HS ARMITAG Armitage See Milwaukee Ave LINCOLN PARK North Ave. Planning District CH Robinson Old Town Triangle Volleyball Historic District Courts Newberry ES North Branch North & Sheffield Lasalle ES Industrial Corridor Commons North Ave. Beach Home Depot Steppenwolf Theatre Second City Apple Store NORTH North/Clybourn Sedgwick New EL City Zanies Theater S Wrigley T Former Near North HS O iO Theater N Catherine Cook School CICS Manierre ChicagoQuest British School ES Franklin ES Planned UI Labs of Chicago Stanton Park Old Town Near North McGrath Acura Schiller ES Jewel Second City McGrath Lexus of Chicago Clark/Division See Central Planning District

DATE | 01.16.2015 LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW PLANNING DISTRICT WARD/TIF/SSA MAP CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015

See North Lakefront

Planning District

E

D

N

E

I

T C

47th Ward S

A

L R

A 46th Ward H

D SSA#18

N

A L

See North Central Side H S LAKE MICHIGAN Planning District A ADDISON

Lakeview Chamber of Commerce

Central Lakeview Merchants Association Lincoln/Belmont/Ashland BELMONT SSA#27 SSA#17 Addison South

44th Ward SSA# 8 33nd Ward DIVERSEY

32nd Ward 1st Ward SSA#23 SSA#35

FULLERTON

North Branch North

43rd Ward

ARMITAGE See Milwaukee Avenue Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce Planning District

Old Town Merchants & Residents Association North Branch South 2nd Ward NORTH

Weed/Fremont SSA#48

Goose Island Eastman/North Branch 27th Ward

Division/North Branch Near North DIVISION See Central Planning District

(NBDC) serves this district but main o ce may be located o the map

*This planning area is located within the Local Economic & Employment Development Council & North Business and Industrial Council (LIRI) DATE | 01.16.2015